Kmart Australia’s Chief People Officer Tristram Gray Uses AI Assessment To Hire At Scale

Tristram Gray, Chief People and Corporate Affairs Officer at Kmart Group in Australia, explains how the retail giant is revolutionizing high-volume hiring with AI. Managing 55,000 employees across 450 stores, Kmart recruits 12,000 people annually while processing hundreds of thousands of applications. Tristram shares how the company uses Sapia.ai to create a mobile-first, simulation-based AI assessment process that evaluates candidates on culture, values, and behaviors rather than traditional resumes, previous experience, or technical skills. The results are remarkable: 73% reduction in time-to-hire (from 44 days to 11 days), 2.5 times longer retention, enhanced diversity, significant cost savings, and 9 out of 10 candidate satisfaction – which translates to a better brand and customer perception of the retail company. Tristram discusses the importance of providing personalized feedback to every candidate, the transformation of recruiter roles from reactive hiring to proactive talent planning, the need for change agility with operations and HR, and his philosophy that AI, when used ethically and responsibly, can create deeply human impact. This conversation offers powerful insights for anyone navigating the introduction of AI in HR. Additional Information Powering the Frontline Workforce: How Frontline-First Companies Thrive The Talent Acquisition Revolution: How AI is Transforming Recruiting New Galileo Certificate Program: Elevating Talent Acquisition with AI Chapters (00:00:03) - What Works: Kmart's AI Hiring Strategy(00:01:04) - Kmart's Chief People and Corporate Affairs Officer on the challenges of(00:05:44) - What Makes a Good Fit for Your Company?(00:13:57) - Australia's diversity program(00:14:52) - The Return on Recruitment by 2020(00:17:11) - How did the role of the recruiters change(00:19:01) - The Professional Roles of Distribution Centers(00:19:56) - In the Elevator With AI Recruitment(00:21:22) - What Works in Your Hiring Process